Eagle Fighter
by HorseTechie
Summary: Sometimes Thundercracker isn't always the most fearsome Air Warriors of the Decepticon fleet, especially when caught up in a situation that tugs at his conscious. It's even worse when he has to explain himself to one of the most hated Autobot warriors!


**AN: This is based off G1 Transformers, but the newer versions could work (such as IDW's Thundercracker). This was a short story I wrote way back in 2005 as a prompt for "Disheveled and Caring Thundercracker".**

 **Re-posting it again now, just for shits and giggles! (It's funny - if not painful - to see how cheesy my writing style was back then. I write much better now!)**

Eagle Fighter

The opposition had been there for some time, but it wasn't until they had gotten stranded on this pathetic mudball that it grew into the monster it became now. Yep, he had made the mistake of calling that golden Autobot warrior a 'ground-scrubbing dirt-kisser'.

He was warned that these two Autobots, more commonly known as the twin Lamborghini brothers, were the best of their class. This meant nothing to him, however, since Thundercracker also considered himself among one of elite in the Decepticon army. Little did he realize the sort of temperament this one and his red twin had. The last thing the blue seeker heard from their radio chatter was something about having to teach a lesson in humility.

This new battle tactic that those two started trending was not anything the blue seeker had heard before. _Jet_ judo. Judo in itself was some kind of martial art that the fleshies on this planet developed. It was a lot like crystalocution. Undeniably. But this new method that these two have reinvented was pure evil!

Thus, the humiliated seeker stifled another groan when the overly ambitious Lamborghini warrior wrenched the tops of his vertical tail stabilizers inward, while stomping down on the elevators of his horizontal tail wings. Being airborne didn't stop these two slagging Autobots anymore. They were cleverly figuring out other ways to launch themselves sky high onto the seeker's backs. Thundercracker made a mental note to not ever fly low over the deck anymore, even if he was off-duty!

That is, if he ever had that chance again! The savage-bot just ripped off his left vertical stabilizer and began sabotaging his tail wing surfaces. Keeping his flight in control grew more difficult by the nanoklik. The more he thought about it, the more his new idea of having the Autobot warrior fall off and explode into so many scrap parts all over the mountainside sounded better. So he let himself spin out of control.

"If you think you can lose me that way, you're really slagged up!" the yellow-gold growled in response as he tightly wrapped his arms and legs around Thundercracker's fuselage.

"We're all slagged up." That was all he could say as they plummeted into a ragged peak high in the Rockies. The blue seeker transformed to robot mode and abruptly twisted himself in the fall to use that Autobot as a cushion against the worse of it. The last thing he wanted was to have his cockpit damaged. Even though the Autobot had a death grip on his intakes, Thundercracker only saw the vicious scowl on his face, disguising the pain as they plowed through the rock.

Once the sounds of scraping and grinding metal had stopped, only a moment of silent stillness had passed before the fight begun again. Thundercracker instinctively rose with arms raised, only to realize that his incendiary guns had been lost in the crash. One of his wings had been ripped off too. His equally damaged opponent took advantage of Thundercracker's hesitation, and slammed an arm against the jagged rock so hard it shorted out.

Since Thundercracker couldn't move his hand on that arm anymore, he balled his left fist to sock Sunstreaker in the faceplate. That didn't seem to phase him. The level of fury this Autobot possessed, despite the damage he had endured to various parts of his prized bodywork, surprised him. It was like the damage had made him angrier. For Thundercracker's one punch, he had to endure five more in return before he could get a foot up to push the yellow one off.

To keep him back, he fired his thrusters enough to sear Sunstreaker's legs with the intense heat. The Autobot endured that briefly before leaping up to tackle-dive Thundercracker. The blue seeker twisted his body away again so that Sunstreaker had to reach to grab him. They both fell to their sides against the unforgiving jagged cliffs. The Autobot quickly locked his legs around the seeker's more slender one's in true judo style, just to further mobilize him. Thundercracker made use of the slope they were on to roll over so he was on top. This time he didn't waste any time to pummel the yellow warrior's head like so much molten slag. He was not going to let the Autobot have it his way this time, no matter what it took.

Once he was able to get more cool air into his overheating internal systems, that is.

The seeker's attacks became more defensive as he clawed at the fierce chokehold around his neck. For a moment, fear seized him when he saw the kind of rage glowing in Sunstreaker' optics, a genuine bloodlust that wanted him dead. This rage was something that he never thought an Autobot would possess.

Thundercracker worked up his courage again and tore the hands from his constricted throat. Then the enraged Autobot attempted to crush the glass on his chest, causing the seeker to clutch his cockpit and roll away. He really hoped it wouldn't have come to this. The seeker's extensive damage made it harder for him to keep up his strength to fight. But instead of finishing him off, the warrior tempered his anger long enough to stare at him.

" _What_. Are you _trying_. To _hide_?" his opponent was clearly being far more observant than he originally had guessed.

"Nothing, you slagger!" Thundercracker scowled, making it very clear to the Autobot that he wasn't pleased at all about the way things were going.

The yellow-gold caught the seeker by his shoulder intake and ran him up against the rock face. "I asked you a _question._ _What_ are you hiding?"

It was rather apparent that even though the rest of the seeker looked like scrapped tinfoil, the cockpit area had barely any damage. Thundercracker's optics flashed. The fool must be thinking that he held a secret device or weapon for Megatron now. Maybe he could work with that, since the actual truth would be harder to believe.

"Tell me, or else!" the warrior was really feeling daring when he gripped a sharp chunk of rock, with the intent to crack open the cockpit himself.

Thundercracker reconsidered his choices, even though this was the last Autobot he even wanted to admit such things too. If it were really just a mechanical device that didn't pose the hazard of blowing both of them up, he would've let Sunstreaker do it. But not this time… he didn't want to imagine the consequences.

"It's not anything for Megatron," his tone was soft, but indignant.

"A _hostage_?!" More of that sharp anger came back to Sunstreaker's voice.

"No," the ground around them began to smell more like their spilt fuel and lubricants that had been leaking out during the struggle.

"Then _what_ is it?" Sunstreaker's tarnished face didn't show any weakness from his injuries. But despite his previous threat, he swatted the seeker upside the head to get him to spill it.

Thundercracker just stared in contempt, albeit weakly. If this Autobot actually did know mercy, he had a real funny way of showing it.

"A bald eagle."

"… the fuck?" As expected, the golden Lamborghini regarded his news with a humanized version of disbelief.

"It had an injured wing… just.. I was just going to take it to where the humans were. So it could get help," he explained, fully knowing how geeky it all sounded.

"Right. And you've also signed up for community service to pay-back for all the slag you caused," Sunstreaker still wasn't believing any of this. How could he? Thundercracker was a Decepticon, and one of Megatron's favorite gophers for collecting things he needed.

Thundercracker just sighed, looking beyond the stupid Autobot to the sky above. So much for wishful thinking that he would be believed. Because yes, why would a 'Fearsome Air Warrior of the Sky' be worried about a puny, little earth bird?

The Autobot stepped away from the seeker, his cold blue optics studying him more closely. Trying to understand the meaning of all this. After some time, he spoke again. "I'll be damned if that thing is still alive after all this."

"It's.. not dead," Thundercracker gave the other a sidelong glance. He only called the bird an 'it' since he was not sure of what gender it was.

The Autobot's tone still felt weird to him. Many of the others put this planet's life first, and themselves second. Not this one. He also felt it would be pointless to explain the significance of this bird, to justify his motive. That his alt mode design was named after it, and the inhabitants of this land mass also highly revered the eagle. It was such a simple life form, in comparison to the human species. But its flying and hunting skills were far more superior to that of a human in a plane. It was no wonder the humans want to be like this amazing bird.

Somewhat assured that the Autobot posed little threat now; he finally released the hatch on his cockpit. He had felt the bird move slightly after sensing the cold fresh air. It had crawled further under the cockpit where the feet would be. Thundercracker felt a little more relived. He had been worried the excessive heat and leaked fluids from the damage might have gotten inside and become fatal to the bird.

Sunstreaker crouched now, to hide his damage weakened state, and to watch in disbelief as a weary black and white bird climbed up to perch on the edge of the seeker's cockpit opening.

The eagle screamed as it tried to stretch and flap good wing. His injured wing remained unable to be raised or tucked up by his side. The bird looked confused and small in the midst of the large robots, and acted like he very much wanted to fly very far from there.

"It doesn't deserve to be a part of our fight," Thundercracker gave his final reason to Sunstreaker. He protectively held his hand in front of the eagle to make sure he didn't hop off and fall to the precarious rocks below.

The golden-warrior remained speechless, as if was also reasoning with the chances of encountering a Decepticon that didn't match the profile. He shook he head, feeling like he was hit with a good dose of humility. This whole thing struck Thundercracker as being terribly ironic, considering.

"Do you.. need help getting that.. it, the eagle.. back to civilization?" Sunstreaker asked, with an unusual politeness in his voice.

The seeker did well in keeping a smirk from appearing on his face. But the Autobot had a point… since he imagined he couldn't fly. The Autobots also had other contacts, even if Sunstreaker couldn't make it to his destination.

"Just gotta promise me something… " Thundercracker winced when he made an effort to get back up on his feet. "Don't tell anyone, where or how you got it. And I swear… if you tell anyone else about this…"

"Sure… like I got a reason to fear you," he was going back to being his own self again.

Thundercracker hesitated long enough to give the yellow-gold a look. "We'll fight another day. Just take him... and go. Go before your energy runs out."

He carefully coaxed the eagle into his hands, and deposited in the receiving ones. For a nanoklik, he could have sworn he saw apprehension run across Sunstreaker's faceplates. Was it fear for the bird itself, or fear that he would fail the mission due to lack of experience with organics.

The seeker did not care to know. He just hoped the Autobot would at least keep the promise to not exploit what he learned there.

 _C'mon... where are you 'Warp?_ The blue seeker looked to the sky again, before strating his laborious journey across the mountain ridge. If he attempted to fly, he rather do that out of the sight of the Autobot. In case he ended up crashing hard.


End file.
